Ankle support and protector.



H. 1. coms. ANKLE sUPPom ANDPROTECTGH..

APPLICATION FILED lULY 7. |916.

Patented June 26, 1917,

LSLSBQ.,

HENRY JAMES COLLIS, OF TAUNION, MASSACHUSETTS.

ANKLE SUPPORT AND PROTECTOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 26, 1.91"?.

Application filed July 7, 1916. Serial No. 107,885.

To all 'whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, HENRY JAMES CoLLrs,

a citizen of the United States, and resident of Taunton, in the county of Bristol and State of lMIassachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ankle Supports and Protectors, of which the following is a specication.

This invention relates to ankle supports and protectors of the corset type in which are employed stiffening strips or stays seated in a series of pockets formed at the sides of the device which cover the sides of the ankle, such as the types illustrated in my previous Patents No. 913,263, granted February 23, 1909, No. 1,081,366, granted December 1G, 1913, and No. 1,084,197, granted January 13, 1914.

It is the object of my present invention to provide an improved device of this class in which the stays or stiifening media can be collectively removed or inserted in series, in contradistinction tothe handling of each individual stay. as has heretofore been the condition in ankle supports of this type, and which furthermore will possess advantages in 1 point of convenience, ease of operation, adaptability, simplicity and economy in manufacture, effectiveness, and general efficiency.

In the drawings- Figure l is a perspective view illustrating the device in use and partly broken away to show the interior features of construction.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view with the device open and looking at the inner side, parts being broken away and one of the series stiffeningmedia being partly withdrawn.

Fig. 3 is a. detail cross-section on the, line m-, Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a detail cross-section on the line y-y, Fig. 2.

ig. 5 is a detail perspective view of one `of the series stilfening media detached from under the instep. The open front of the body is secured by suitable fasteningmeans, such as laces and eyelets, 4&5, engaging the front edges of the sides 2, and the body of the device is suitably constructed from blanks of soft pliable material, such as leather or an adapted fabric, supports of this type being' designed for use in athletic sports and generally employed in position over the stocking and within the shoe.

In the preferred construction, the sides of the upper' portion of the body are constituted by an outerl blank or sheet, 6, and an inner blank or sheet, 7, secured together by suitable stitching and providing an inner space between the blanks -in which the pockets for the stays or stifl'ei'ling media are formed by stitching.

Heretofore, in ankle supports of this type, separate pockets have been provided for individual stays or stiffening strips and the latter have been independently rem fable and insertible each strip being handled separately. In the improved construction constituting' my present invention, a single pocket is provided for a series of stays or stiffening strips and the latter are carried collectively, the series being removable or insertible by one movement or handling.

In the preferred construction embodying' my present improvements, the pocket, 8, which carries the collective series of stays -or stifliening strips, is located at the respective sides 2-2 and formed between the outer and inner blanks or walls G-T thereof by front and rear stitching, as at 9-10, eX- tending downwardly, and bottom crossstitching, as at 11. The pocket is open at its top, as at 12, at the top edges of the outer and inner blanks or wall-sheets 6 4', and it preferably corresponds in area to all that portion Aof the side 2 of the upper portion of the body which is to be reinforced by the collective series of stay-strips or stili'- ening media. Under the conditions just de scribed, the outline contour of the pocket 8 is preferably such that it extends diagonally downwardly and forwardly, diagonal to the vertical plane of the portion of the body which surrounds the rear of the ankle abovethe heel, and toward the open front 4of the body, the front and rear stitching 9-1O forming the front and rear limits of the pocket being in the diagonal line indicated and the bottom stitching 11 which sertible and removable member, 14, consti.

. tuting the stili'ening media, and in the pre- 'pliable inclosed within and permanently carried' ferred construction this series stay-media is formed by a body constructed of blanks of pliable material, such as leather or an adapted fabric, with outer and inner sheets or walls, 15--16, between which the respective stays or stifening strips, 17, arc permanently inclosed and carried in successive pcsition in individual pockets, 18, formed by stitching', as at 19, surrounding and dividing said pockets. The series stay-member 14 preferably conforms in contour to the con tour of the main pocket 8 within which it is carried and to the area thereof, and its pliable character and construction as above described is such that the individual stays or strips 17 have an independent flexible or action though they are collectively by the body of the series member 14.

The series stay-member is normally carried Within its corresponding pocket 8 of the ankle support body 1, with its top edge oh the line or plane of the ,open top 12 of the pocket, and will effectively maintain its operative position therein during the use of the support by the frictional contact between the walls of the stay-member 14 and the walls of the pocket. The pliable character of the walls of the pocket 8 enables the convenient grasping of the top edge of the series stay-member 14, to effect its removal from the pocket when desired, but to facilitate the convenient handling of the member 14 the top edge of one or both of the Walls 6-7 of the pocket 8 may be recessed, as at 20, to expose a small portion of the top edge of the inclosed series staymember 14.

The operation and advantages of my invention will be readily understood by those familiar with the athletic arts and the uses for which the device is adapted. The improved construction enables the quick and convenient removal or insertion of the collective series of stays or stiii'ening strips in one movementpand without handling each stray-strip separately, and at the same time the operation of the series stay-member 14 which carries the collectiverstay-strips af fords the same pliability and effective action as when the stay-stripsV are to be separately mounted in an individual pocket at the sides of the body of.y the device. The improved construction is also exceedingly simple in manufacture andv effective in service.

I do not desire to be understood as limitvthe spirit and scope of my provenients.

ing myself to the detail construction and arrangementV of parts as herein shown and described, as it is manifest that variations and modiiications therein may be resorted to, in the adaptation of my invention to varying conditions of use, without departing from invention and iml therefore reserve the right to all such variations and modifications as properly fall within the scope of my invention and the terms of the following claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. An improved ankle support and protector of the class described, having a body portion adapted to surround the ankleand a bottom portion adapted topass underthe inste comprising a pocket extending over the side of said body, and a series stay-member collectively carrying a series of individual stays or stiffening strips and seated in said pocket and removable asa unit there from.

2. An improved ankle support and protector of the class described, having a body portion adapted to surround the ankle and abottom portion adapted to pass under the instep, comprising a pocket extending over the side of said body, and a series stay-member con fbottom ,portion adapted to pass undervthe instep., comprising a pocket extending over the side of said body, and a series staymember constituted by a flexible body'hav-v ing outer and inner Walls between which are provided separate pockets and collec-V tively carrying a series of stays or stiening strips individually mounted and inclosed in said respective pockets, said series staymember being seated in said side pocket and removable as a unit therefrom. i

4. An improved ankle support and protector of the class described, havinga body portion adapted to surround the ankle and a bottom portion adapted to passunder the instep, comprising a pocket extending over the side of said body and having an open top at the top edge thereof, and a series stay-member collectively carrying a series of individual stays or stiffening strips vand conforming to and'seated in said pocket a bottom portion adapted to pass under the instep, comprising a pocket formed by outer and inner flexible walls at the side of said body and open at its top, and a series Staylnelnber constituted by a body having outer and inner' flexible Walls and divided into separate pockets located between said Walls and collectively carrying a series of stays or stifening strips individually mounted and inclosed in said respective pockets, said 10 series stay-member being friotonally maintained in said side pocket by Contact of its eXible walls with the flexible Walls thereof and being removable as a unit from the open top of said side pocket.

In testimony whereof I have Signed the foregoing specification.

HENRY JAMES COLLIS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for` ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, ZD. C. 

